The first notable fact of these tests in Australia is their non-television broadcast by the championship promoter.
There are three main reasons for this:
– They really take place in the middle of the night (23:45 p.m./7:45 a.m.) for European viewers,
– They are not the first tests after the winter break,
– Australia is the geographically furthest country from Europe, with the associated shipping costs…
Conversely, good news is brought by the weather since after two days of rain, the sun reigns on the small island of Phillip Island. And this should continue for the first two days of testing, with a possibility of rain on the last day. This is all the more good news as some of the flying cases which contain all the teams' equipment seem to have been flooded in Malaysia while awaiting transfer to Australia.
However, at 23:45 p.m., the start time of testing, the temperature was relatively cool (17° in the air compared to 29° expected this afternoon, 25° on the track) and the wind was very present and, consequently, no driver hasn't put on his leathers yet. And that's good, since Live Timing seems to have some slight and temporary updating problems.
After half an hour of silence, Scott Redding is the most courageous and recorded a 1'34.047 after 5 laps, which allows us to take out the track record from the archives:
1'27.899 per Jorge Lorenzo in 2013.
Follow on track Danilo Petrucci in 1'32.321,
Jack Miller, Pol Espargaro, Andrea Dovizioso, Alex Rins et Jorge Lorenzo.
The first hour ends with 1'30.721Andrea Dovizioso (343 km/h), in front Hector Barbera, Andrea Iannone et Danilo Petrucci.
At this moment, no Yamaha rider has yet taken to the track, just like the two official Honda riders, but this will be done from the first minutes of the second hour.
| Pos | Pile | Team | Chrono | difference | Tours | |
| 1 | P | DOVIZIOSO, Andrew | Ducati Team | 1:30.721 | 8 / 8 | |
| 2 | P | BARBERA, Hector | Royal Esponsorama Racing | 1:30.772 | 0.051 | 7 / 7 |
| 3 | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Octo Pramac Racing | 1:31.623 | 0.902 | 14 / 15 | |
| 4 | P | IANNON, Andrew | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:32.060 | 1.339 | 7 / 7 |
| 5 | MILLER, Jack | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1:32.109 | 1.388 | 12 / 13 | |
| 6 | P | ESPARGARÓ, Pol | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:32.540 | 1.819 | 6 / 6 |
| 7 | P | LORENZO, Jorge | Ducati Team | 1:32.764 | 2.043 | 4 / 5 |
During the second hour, the times stabilized in just 1'30 under the impetus of Maverick Vinales (1'30.358) and Andrea Dovizioso (1'30.410).
On the technical side, Maverick Vinales uses the new Yamaha fairing, unlike its teammate, some Ducati GP17s no longer have the famous box under the saddle, Aprilia will release its new fairing tomorrow and Michelin has brought new tires which will also be tested tomorrow and Friday.
Alex Espargaro has still not taken the track while Bradley Smith only completed 6 laps.
| Pos | Pile | Team | Chrono | Difference | Laps | |
| 1 | P | VIÑALES, Maverick | Yamaha Motor Racing | 1:30.358 | 8 / 14 | |
| 2 | P | DOVIZIOSO, Andrew | Ducati Team | 1:30.410 | 0.052 | 16 / 16 |
| 3 | P | MILLER, Jack | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1:30.691 | 0.333 | 22 / 22 |
| 4 | P | BARBERA, Hector | Royal Esponsorama Racing | 1:30.772 | 0.414 | 7 / 10 |
| 5 | P | LORENZO, Jorge | Ducati Team | 1:30.934 | 0.576 | 14 / 15 |
| 6 | P | PEDROSA, Dani | Repsol Honda Team | 1:30.940 | 0.582 | 5 / 9 |
| 7 | P | Rossi, Valentine | Yamaha Motor Racing | 1:31.017 | 0.659 | 6 / 12 |
| 8 | MARCHEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | 1:31.100 | 0.742 | 5 / 6 | |
| 9 | P | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | Honda LCR | 1:31.275 | 0.917 | 12 / 13 |
| 10 | P | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Octo Pramac Racing | 1:31.326 | 0.968 | 24 / 27 |
| 11 | P | IANNON, Andrew | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:31.411 | 1.053 | 12 / 13 |
| 12 | P | ESPARGARÓ, Pol | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:31.454 | 1.096 | 13 / 13 |
| 13 | P | REDDING, Scott | Octo Pramac Racing | 1:31.924 | 1.566 | 20 / 22 |
| 14 | P | Folger, Jonas | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:32.032 | 1.674 | 14 / 14 |
| 15 | P | LOWES, Sam | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1:32.308 | 1.950 | 15 / 15 |
| 16 | ABRAHAM, Karel | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 1:32.396 | 2.038 | 9 / 11 | |
| 17 | P | ZARCO, Johann | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:32.452 | 2.094 | 14 / 14 |
| 18 | P | BAZ, Loris | Royal Esponsorama Racing | 1:32.498 | 2.140 | 13 / 13 |
| 19 | BAUTISTA, Alvaro | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 1:32.538 | 2.180 | 7 / 8 | |
| 20 | Rins, Alex | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:33.048 | 2.690 | 12 / 14 | |
| 21 | P | SMITH, Bradley | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:35.411 | 5.053 | 6 / 6 |
| NC | Espargaro, Aleix | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
The third hour takes on the appearance of a Honda offensive, with first of all a Marc Marquez which is positioned in 3rd place, then, at 1:54, a Dani Pedrosa who took provisional pole in 1'30.280.
